five times around
by of self
Summary: Friendship sometimes can be all that you ever wanted. Nico/Grady. AU.


This hints at ambiguous romantic subtext. If that squicks you out, please dont read. It will save you the time and me the annoyance. :)

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**five times around.**

1.

There's only one fro yo left. Nico is eyeing it and so is Grady. It's in the middle of this little chalk circle shakily drawn by Nico because he was too busy trying to keep an eye on Grady.

"Dude, whoever swipes it first gets it? Fair is fair?" Nico questions, chewing on the edge of his tie and staring the fro yo down. Grady nods furiously, his hair flipping all over.

It's go time.

Their hands shoot out simultaneously and touch the cup, their fingers barely grazing.

It's not a spark; it's nothing earth shattering but it's something they can't comprehend so they draw back their hands as if burned.

"Dude, how about we go play some video games?" Grady asks his voice brighter and chipper and may be a little too much.

Nico blinks for a second and then everything clears.

"Of course. That fro yo was melting anyway."

They both exit the room and the cup remains on the table, melting.

For the rest of the day, both of them feel the phantom touch of someone else's fingers on their fingers but they don't think about it because it's not that important.

Right?

2.

They have never fought about anything for so long. The last epic fight they had lasted for two hours. This one is stretching into days.

Nico does not know what to do. Sonny is sweet but she isn't Grady. She doesn't get the funny aspect of everything like Grady does. She's not him. Nico misses Grady like he's missing a part of himself.

And Sonny definitely won't fill that void.

But he doesn't know how to apologize.

So he waits and suffers in silence and wonders if he's an idiot for missing his best friend — no his only friend, so much.

//

Grady sometimes wonders if Sonny is missing a funny bone in her body. She doesn't find the same things that he does, funny. Instead there's a blank look on her face when he's giggling.

Of course what he later realizes is that she's missing a Nico bone. The ability to find anything that Grady finds funny, funny.

He then gazes wistfully towards Nico and wishes that Nico were right here, next to him right now. Then everything would be okay.

Grady feels a pang in his chest.

Sonny is a replacement but nothing can ever really replace Nico.

They are two halves of one thing.

Lost without each other.

//

A few hours later, everything seems to have magically settled itself. There's only one problem though.

It's too awkward to hug because Nico feels then something will be off and Grady cannot bring himself to hug Nico.

Instead they share the cheese tacos.

And wish that they could hug.

Maybe someday they will.

3.

"Hey Pico and Broody! Do you know where Sonny is?" Chad Dylan Cooper calls out, while they are walking past him in the cafeteria. He has a smirk on his face, like he knows he's better than both of them.

And they both know that's a debatable opinion.

They both turn around calmly and face him.

"His name is Nico."

"His name is Grady."

They simultaneously defend each other.

"And dude, it's seriously pathetic that you crush on her so badly and you don't even have the guts to tell her. Some kind of teen idol you are." They rejoin, still calmly.

Chad stares at them in a mixture of horror and embarrassment.

They smirk and walk out of the cafeteria, sharing fist bumps and shoulders bumps on the way out.

There's something to be said for speaking in sync.

It's not something borne out of friendship alone.

There's something else too. But for now, they are content to let it be.

Because it's not like they are ever going to be apart right?

4.

They look proudly at the creation of just what might the greatest sub sandwich ever.

It has peanut butter, celery, mustard, sardines, mayo and an assortment of other things.

They each take a big bite out of it, savouring the taste.

"This is so awesome," Grady moans and Nico nods his head, his eyes closed.

"This sandwich is going to rule the world." Nico enthuses as they make a slew of subs, because in the grand scheme of things, they see themselves selling sandwiches which get should out in a couple of minutes.

"Putting in the coleslaw was an awesome idea; it really balances out the peanut butter." Grady says as he heaps a helping of coleslaw on a slice of bread slathered with butter.

'Adding the mayonnaise was another brilliant idea." Nico says he grins at Grady.

And then they both go:

"I love you man."

For a few minutes they don't look up from each their sandwich stations. And when they do, there's something in the air, its tension so thick that knives or jokes won't cut through it.

"As a friend."

"As a friend," Grady attests with a small smile.

Throwing away what they have for something they don't know how to define doesn't feel right just as yet.

5.

They are grown up and they have grown out of So Random now. Sonny is doing more comedy stuff—like romantic chick flicks, while Tawni has graduated into doing serious stuff.

Zora is probably taking over the world one TV station at the time.

Them?

They are at SNL, still doing sketches except now they are reaching wider audiences, and yeah, they have got an Emmy or two to their names.

They are still best friends, the best friends that were ever there.

But sometimes, they look back upon all of those times and think of what might have been and what could have been, now that they are old enough to understand about what there is between them— that phantom imprint on their fingers.

And then they smile.

Why spoil a good thing?

Besides, friends can be soul mates for life too.

And you don't need a tag for that.

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a/n - I actually like this. :)


End file.
